Lecture 2: Species Diversity

what is species diversity?

the variation of species on the planet

which group of organisms have the highest relative abundance on our planet?

insects

what is the total number of species described as of 2022? which group has the highest percentage of described species?

2.16 million. insects have the highest percentage of described species

Do mammals have a high number of species compared to plants, or even red algae?

No. There are 6500 mammal species compared to 424000 plant species or 7500 red algae species

what is the order of taxonomy?

domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

what is the sentence to help remember the order of taxonomy?

dirty kinky people can often find great sex

what is binomial nomenclature and why is it important?

The binomial nomenclature is a unique, 2 word, Latin name for each organism. It’s important because it allows us to properly identify each organism from one another, especially if they look alike or have similar common names.

How do you properly write the binomial nomenclature?

Genus species

what are the 3 domains?

bacteria, archaea, eukarya

what defines prokaryotes? what are the 2 domains of prokaryotes?

no nucleus and no membrane bound compartments. bacteria and archaea

what defines eukaryotes? what are the 4 kingdoms within eukarya?

a nucleus and membrane bound compartments. 4 kindgoms: fungi, animalia, plantae, protista

what is a species?

a population of organisms that are able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring

even though they look very similar, why are the eastern meadowlark and western meadowlark considered different species? what is this an example of?

they have different mating songs and will not mate with each other. example of behavioral isolation

what is a subspecies?

smaller groups within a species that are still capable of breeding with each other despite minor anatomical or genetic differences but usually do not because they are often geographically isolated

what are the 3 biodiversity indices?

alpha, beta, and gamma diversity

what is alpha diversity?

species richness - the number of species found within an area.

what is species richness positively correlated with? what does this mean?

area and precipitation. this means that as precipitation or the size of an area increases, so does the species richness

what is species richness negatively correlated with?

an increase in latitude away from the equator, an increase in altitude

what is island biogeography?

larger islands and islands closer to the mainland will have higher species richness. smaller islands and islands further from the mainland will have lower species richness.

name the 5 main factors that contribute to a higher species richness

large area, being closer to the mainland, low to mid elevation, more precipitation, tropical latitude

what is beta diversity?

the number of unique species between areas/communities

what is gamma diversity?

the number of species over the entire geographic region